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Orcs
Orcs are a tribal society native to the eastern half of the Rooted Continent. A horse-riding culture that dominated the plains, the Tieflings drove the Poccnr Orcs into the mountains, and enslaved many, spreading them across the continent. After the fall of the Tiefling Empire, the Poccnr spread out over the former eastern provinces of the Empire, while the enslaved Orcs in the west were inherited by Men and Elves, until they too eventually gained their independence and formed too new societies, hobbled-together strange half-remembered tribes out of legends and myths of Poccnr culture. Physical Appearance Orcs have stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks. Orc Sub-species Orcs can procreate with many humanoid and giant species. Their offspring with other races in most cases breed true orcs, or orc-dominant half-orcs. Half-orc half-ogres are especially intimidating and brutish figures called Ogrillons. The Orogs are a race of smarter, stronger orcs that live in the upper Underdark. They often ally with the surface Orcs, but are not trusted, due to their propensity to quickly take over any tribe they are invited into. As such, Orogs usually form small bands within larger Orc armies, or as mercenaries to other villains. Western Orcs Religion The Western Orcs follow a version of the Poccnr Religion twisted by their hate for their former slave-masters. In their version, Otietsbog, the chief god of the pantheon, becomes Gruumsh, a god wounded in battle by mighty Elven heroes and nursing a mighty hatred. Otietsbog's Justice becomes Gruumsh's Revenge. Some Western Orcs pluck out their own eye and become spiritual leaders and legends amongst the Western Orcs, gifted with magical powers. Similarly, Oyar, the Poccnr goddess of the family, became Luthic, a fertility goddess, who teaches mass profligacy, explaining the prevalence of half-orc individuals and even communities in the west. Nomadism The Western Orcs gather in tribes that exert their dominance and satisfy their blood lust by plundering villages, devouring or driving off roaming herds, and slaying any humanoids that stand against them. After savaging a settlement, orcs pick it clean of wealth and items usable in their own lands. They set the remains of villages and camps ablaze, then retreat whence they came, their blood lust satisfied. Western Orcs seldom settle permanently, instead converting ruins, cavern complexes, and defeated foes' villages into fortified camps and strongholds. Orcs build only for defense, making no innovation or improvement to their lairs beyond mounting the severed body parts of their victims on spiked stockade walls or pikes jutting up from moats and trenches. On rare occasions, a tribe's leader chooses to hold onto a particularly defensible lair for decades. The orcs of such a tribe must range far across the countryside to sate their appetites. Raiding When an existing territory is depleted of food, an orc tribe divides into roving bands that scout for choice hunting grounds. When each party returns, it brings back trophies and news of targets ripe for attack, the richest of which is chosen. The tribe then sets out en masse to carve a bloody path to its new territory. Leadership''' Orc tribes are mostly patriarchal, flaunting such vivid or grotesque titles as Many-Arrows, Screaming Eye, or Elf-Ripper. The war chief of an orc tribe is its strongest and most cunning member. The reign of a war chief lasts only as long as it commands the fear and respect of other tribe members, whose blood lust must be regularly satisfied lest the chief appear weak. Occasionally, a powerful war chief unites scattered orc tribes into a single rampaging horde, which runs roughshod over other orc tribes and humanoid settlements from a position of overwhelming strength. Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. Rejecting notions of racial purity, they proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of giants and often serve them as guards and soldiers. '''Category:Races